Priscilla, Queen of The Desert - The Musical

Priscilla, Queen of The Desert - The Musical
By Stephen Elliott and Allan Scott. Based on the Latent Image/Specific Films Motion Picture. North Queensland Opera and Music Theatre. Directed by Kevin Wright. Choreography by Kylie Ball. Music Direction Odette Baxter. Vocal Direction Tony Woodhouse. Townsville Civic Theatre. 6-16 October 2021.

THIS crazy, over-the-top musical comedy is exactly the kind of escapist entertainment that it seems we all crave today with all the COVID nonsense around us, and NQOMT’s energetic production is wild and wicked in many ways.

From the moment the curtain rose on five flame-haired Divas with their silver frocks and pompadour wigs for the opening number It’s Raining Men, we knew what sort of a ride we were in for on opening night. And while there were few bumps along the road (some intended and some not), the extravagant costuming, larger-than-life characters and the jukebox score full of 70s pop songs guaranteed an enjoyable evening for most.

Based as it is on the surprise hit film of 1994, Priscilla, Queen of the Desert and the subsequent musical it became in 2006 (which has played the world since), it is the story of two drag queens and a trans woman, aboard a bus (which they have dubbed Priscilla) who travel across outback Australia from Sydney to Alice Springs to put on a drag show.

The film was a huge hit around the world winning critical and public acclaim, an Oscar for its elaborate (and amusing) costuming and eventually becoming a cult classic. Of course, it is also a landmark film in movie history, remembered for being one of the first films to positively portray LGBT issues and in so doing bringing those themes to a mainstream audience.

Add to this comedy of errors a witty script, a strong sense of absurdity (equally measured with doses of reality) and above all, the strong cast, and here are all the elements for a film which will stand the test of time. And this is the challenge and/or dilemma for the director and actors before anyone has even stepped on stage. When one is adapting a film into a stage production – particularly one which is likely to stimulate strong memories for practically every member of the audience - that strong sense of the original looms over the production and that is the first, major and consistent hurdle.

For first-time director and performer Kevin Wright, who will probably always be remembered by Townsville audiences for his outstanding performance as Peter Allen in The Boy from Oz, this was the challenge he faced. It is clear that this was a musical he clearly understood and loved, and the huge team who worked with him have laboured long and hard (particularly in re-creating the lavish costuming) to realise his ambition to bring this show to the Townsville stage.

The challenge is to avoid imitation and find something fresh and interesting for his actors to work from. This is what inspires the actors to create characters which stretch and excite them (and the audience), which is never going to be easy when the original cast – Terence Stamp, Hugo Weaving and Guy Pearce – loom so large.

This is the challenge that faced the three actors who stepped into the respective roles of Bernadette, Tick/Mitzi and Adam/Felicia. While they all succeeded to a certain extent, all three would have benefited from perhaps some more detailed characterisation work and choices which would have taken them (and us) on heightened journeys.

Tony Woodhouse (also vocal director for the production) stepped into Stamp’s heels to play the trans woman, Bernadette. This is the character who is not only the core of the entire production but is probably the most complex of all the characters. After some initial tentativeness, he managed to achieve a stillness (and power) to the character as he grew more comfortable with it.

Stephen Jubber picked up from where Hugo Weaving left off to bring Tick/Mitzi to life. He plays the gay man who has a wife and child in Alice Springs and is worried about how his son will react to him. His strong voice soared in the numbers he performed, but his challenge was to find the empathy and confusion of the character.

On the surface the sassy character Adam/Felicia (originated by Guy Pearce), the spectacularly flamboyant and obnoxious younger drag queen, seems any easy one to master. Apart from a few dodgy singing notes from Jacob Martinez in this sassy role, he needed to break through the outrageous campiness to find the fragility of the character.

In other roles, displaying – in impossible red heels - a sensational pair of legs which looked for all the world like Ms Turner, Jeremiah Pau gave a sensational Tina Turner impression for his What’s Love Got to Do With It number, and matched it with a fun contribution as Jimmy the indigenous guide.  

Brett Greenland channelled his best “Bill Hunter” to play Bob, while Katherine Shield provided a hysterical cameo as the bogan chick “Shirley” in the I Love the Nightlife number and eight year old John Scanlan was a confident standout as Tick’s son.

Also outstanding were the splendid sets of pipes displayed by all five Divas – Jill Cason, Jasmin Delle Baite, Morgan Eldridge, Sharon Ransom and Sophie Ricca.

First night nerves meant that many of the characters mistimed laughs and rushed some of the classic and more memorable lines, but this will no doubt be ironed out as the run progresses. However, it is the energy and pizazz that carries as clearly the cast are loving performing this – after all rarely does any cast get the opportunity to pull out all the stops in such an uninhibited way.

It was with some pride that NQOMT opened the show on 6 October to a nearly sold-out season (notwithstanding the COVID restrictions for 75% houses), but it is hoped that the extra 25% will be made available from Thursday so if you missed out, make sure you grab a ticket for a fun night out.

Trevor Keeling

Photographs by Chrissy Maguire

 

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